The present invention relates to authentication of an electronic account. More specifically, the invention relates to use of an intermediate trust state for the account based on suspicion of the account being compromised.
In recent years there has been exponential growth and development of electronic communication. Many people have electronic mail accounts and social media accounts. For example, one person may have a personal electronic mail account, a work email account, and one or more social media accounts. Access to each of these accounts require authentication of a user name and an associated password. If the authentication fails, the user is not permitted access to the associated account.
A malicious or unauthorized user is a person who uses programming skills to gain unauthorized access to a computer network, file, and/or account. The malicious or unauthorized user generally gains access to an account by obtaining the user name and password, or through a security breach. In either situation, once the malicious or unauthorized user has access, the account is compromised and the account may then be used by the malicious or unauthorized user for inappropriate activity, including corporate surveillance and unlawful taking of an identity. Accordingly, there is a need to limit the ability of a malicious or unauthorized user to gain access to an electronic account.